Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/3/17
From Press Release
The No. 2 Penn State men’s lacrosse team (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) prevailed in Sunday night’s top-five matchup, taking down No. 5 Ohio State (9-2, 0-1 Big Ten), 9-4, in front of a record-setting crowd of 3,172 at the Penn State Lacrosse Field.
Attackmen Mac O’Keefe (left), Nick Aponte (center) and Grant Ament (Haverford School) helped lead 10-0 Penn State to the key win Sunday night (Photo for Phillylacrosse.com)
The Nittany Lions’ win extended the program’s best start, with the team winning the first 10 games of the season. The 10 consecutive wins tied the program record for most wins in a row in a single season. It also marks the seventh time in program history that a PSU men’s lacorsse team has reached double-figure wins.
The story of the day revolved around a staunch Nittany Lions defense and superior play in the cage. Penn State let in just four goals behind an incredible performance from freshman goaltender Colby Kneese. The rookie finished with 13 stops and a .765 save percentage. The defense did its part as well, combining for a season-high 12 caused turnovers. Sophomore defender Chris Sabia (Haverford School) forced three Buckeyes miscues, while sophomore long stick midfielder Kevin Fox added a pair. Seven other players added takeaways.
On the offensive end, seniors Mike Sutton (St. Augustine Prep) and Nick Aponte added multi-point performances. Sutton scored a pair of goals and leads Penn State with 69 career scores. Aponte scored once while tallying a pair of assists to pace the team with three points.
Six other Penn State players tallied goals in the game. Attackmen Grant Ament (Haverford School) and Mac O’Keefe each scored a goal. O’Keefe stretched his goal-scoring streak to 10 consecutive games, best of any player on the team, while Ament’s score prolonged his point-scoring streak to 25 consecutive games.
Midfielders Kevin Hill, Dan Craig and Nick Spillane each added goals in the outing. Redshirt senior Drake Kreinz followed one of his four faceoff victories with his first goal of the season and seventh of his career. Junior midfielder Ryan Keenan added an assist.
Penn State will look to make its win streak 11-in-a-row next Saturday, as the Nittany Lions head to College Park, Maryland to take on No. 9 Maryland (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten). The game is slated for a 1 p.m. faceoff and is set for national broadcast on ESPNU.
The Turning Point
After entering halftime with a one-goal lead, Kreinz won the faceoff to open the third quarter before sprinting down field and scoring for a 5-3 lead. The goal set up a three-goal run over the next five minutes to put Penn State in the driver’s seat.